CHIMES: PSYCHIC SLACK

Chimes is a psychedelic/stoner rock band (“slackedelia”) hailing from both New Jersey and Brooklyn, and they aren’t going to win your attention nicely — they’re gonna wrest it from you in a doublefisted effort, then run off with it and do nasty things to it in a swamp outhouse. This review isn’t exactly on-time, but their 2-track release “Psychic Slack” came out in September of this year and it’s absolutely worth checking out.

“Total Sunflower” begins with a driving guitar strum which is dwarfed by the droning jam which arrives in waves immediately afterward. Part of me wanted to dismiss the song as a classic one-chord minor psych rock jam, but something about the lyrics being spewed at me (“when I’m drunk / I’m gonna throw up in your mouth / nothing matters”) made me think a lot less about the whole experience. This is music meant to be moved to, listened to at deafening volumes – not so much a cerebral endeavor constructed to be the subject of armchair critique. The swirling vortex of guitar distortion (some synth tones thrown in there as well possibly?) ultimately makes for a listen which is somehow both exciting and pleasant. “Rinso” is much more of a slow burn jam, and also much more concerned with pretty vocal sounds (“Total Sunflower” was almost punk lyrically) and layered riffs which thrum outward in ritualistic flanger-flanked patterns. I can’t help but think of a more robust My Bloody Valentine, or a less polished Slowdive – it’s shoegaze goodness, but with a nice edginess added in the mix. All in all, I’m pretty excited to hear more from these guys – if you’re in the area, they play NYC shows pretty regularly.

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